OUR WORK

Climate & Clean Economy

Rising temperatures, increased flooding, and shrinking glaciers tell us we urgently need to take action to fight climate change. We know that what is good for the environment is also good for the economy. That’s why we are working to reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions and build a low-carbon, clean economy in Canada.

With the support of thousands of Canadians, this past year we helped to get microbeads banned in Canada and atrazine — a pesticide in our surface and drinking water — placed under a special federal review.

That’s why we’re working to stop rampant urban sprawl from paving over Ontario’s best remaining farmland. We’re also ensuring the proper implementation of the province’s Growth Plan to help create a prosperous and sustainable future.

When the Ontario government announced that it would review the Greenbelt and Growth Plans, we knew we had to be involved. We informed Canadians on how they could get involved and over 30,000 sent letters, made calls and joined our Queen’s Park MPP information days to ensure prime farmland, water sources and forests were protected.

And our efforts paid off! The newly released Greenbelt and Growth Plans set Ontario on a path towards greater sustainability, climate resilience and economic prosperity.

In the year ahead, our efforts to create liveable communities will focus on:

Helping concerned citizens stop the destructive and costly Highway 413 which would destroy forests and farms in the Greenbelt

Working with planners, academics and municipal leaders to ensure the proper implementation of the Growth Plan

Pushing to have the Greenbelt’s boundaries expanded so that prime farmland and vulnerable water sources are protected

YOU

We wouldn’t exist without you. You signed petitions, donated your birthday presents, attended our events, wrote and called the government and financially supported our programs.

Everything we do is made possible because of your generosity, enthusiasm, passion and dedication.

And, you inspire us to continue our work to improve the health of Canadians and the Environment.

An Evening of Inspiring Change

Our 2017 Gala featured a thought-provoking conversation with Anthropocene Project creators Edward Burtynsky, Jennifer Baichwal and Nick de Pencier. Led by executive director, Tim Gray, the discussion explored how Environmental Defence’s efforts to make meaningful change dovetail with the work of these three incredible artists who have brought the beauty, scope and scale of massive change to photography and film. Thank you to our sponsors and guests for your unwavering commitment to inspiring change.

GREEN CHAMPION

Award in honour of the recipient’s service to protecting Canada’s environment

Heather Bastien will always be remembered as one of Ontario’s greatest Aboriginal cultural heritage landscape champions.

Together with Luc Laine, legal counsel and a few dedicated archaeologists, Heather’s efforts resulted in the protection of dozens of significant Huron-Wendat villages and burials, including Skandatut, a large 15th century village site in Ontario’s Greenbelt.

When she was asked what preserving Skandatut and its ossuary meant to her, she said, “We created a permanently protected cultural heritage landscape in the Greenbelt. Preserving Skandatut, our ancient capital and burial ground, is a great legacy for all Nations.”

OUR PEOPLE

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENCE is a team of passionate, creative, and talented people devoted to making positive change happen. Our staff and board work hard every day to protect Canada’s environment and human health. But we don’t do it alone. We have an expert advisory committee that offers ideas, advice and feedback to help us develop our campaigns, and we have celebrity partners and a social media team that helps us get the word out about our programs.

Financials

It takes all of our dedicated team working together in our office to deliver the outcomes we’ve shared in this report. The program, engagement and communications staff (tackling the issues) along with our finance, development, and administration teams (backbone) come together and deliver the change we have committed to our funders and supporters. And of course, we need the space (keeping the lights on) to brainstorm, plan and implement.

To quote author, activist and humanitarian, Dan Pallotta:

“Our generation does not want its epitaph to read, ‘We kept charity overhead low.’ We want it to read we changed the world.”

THANK YOU

A BIG THANKS to all of the individuals and organizations who generously supported our efforts between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017. Together, we accomplished incredible feats, including securing a federal commitment to protecting charities from harassment and the launch of a new standard to protect natural areas from the impacts of aggregate extraction. And with your continued support, we know that we can accomplish even more this coming year.